Earthquake: Shaking and trembling that results from the movement of rock beneath Earth's surface. Stress: A force that acts on rock to change its shape or volume. Shearing: Stress that pushes a mass of rock in two opposite directions. tension: a stress force that pulls on the crust stretching rock so that it becomes thinner in the middle. Compression: A stress force that squeezes rock until it folds or breaks. Deformation: Any change in the volume or shape of Earth's crust. Fault: A break in Earth's crust where slabs of crust slip past each other. Strike-slip fault: When the rocks on either of the fault slip past each other sideways with little up or down motion. Normal Fault: When the fault is at an angle, so one block lies above the fault while the other block lies below the fault. Hanging Wall: The half of the fault that lies above. Foot Wall: The half of the fault that lies below. Fault-Block Mountain: When normal faults uplift a block of rock. Folds: Bends in rock that form when compression shortens and thickens part of Earth's crust. Anticline: A fold of rock that bends upward into an arch. Syncline: A fold of rock that bends down in the middle to form a bowl. Plateau: Large are of flat land elivated high above sea level.
Outline
Stress in the Crust
Types of Stress
Shearing, tension, and compression work over millions of years to change the shape and volume of rock.
Kinds of Faults
Faults usually accur along plate boundaries, where the forces of plate motion compress, pull, or shear the crust so much that the crust breaks.
Strike-Slip Faults
Normal Faults
Reverse Faults
Friction Along Faults
Mountain Building
Over millions of years, fault movement can change a flat plain into a towering mountain range.
Table of Contents
Earth's Crust in Motion
Vocabulary
Earthquake: Shaking and trembling that results from the movement of rock beneath Earth's surface.
Stress: A force that acts on rock to change its shape or volume.
Shearing: Stress that pushes a mass of rock in two opposite directions.
tension: a stress force that pulls on the crust stretching rock so that it becomes thinner in the middle.
Compression: A stress force that squeezes rock until it folds or breaks.
Deformation: Any change in the volume or shape of Earth's crust.
Fault: A break in Earth's crust where slabs of crust slip past each other.
Strike-slip fault: When the rocks on either of the fault slip past each other sideways with little up or down motion.
Normal Fault: When the fault is at an angle, so one block lies above the fault while the other block lies below the fault.
Hanging Wall: The half of the fault that lies above.
Foot Wall: The half of the fault that lies below.
Fault-Block Mountain: When normal faults uplift a block of rock.
Folds: Bends in rock that form when compression shortens and thickens part of Earth's crust.
Anticline: A fold of rock that bends upward into an arch.
Syncline: A fold of rock that bends down in the middle to form a bowl.
Plateau: Large are of flat land elivated high above sea level.
Outline
Stress in the Crust
Types of Stress
Kinds of Faults
Friction Along Faults
Mountain Building
Diagrams